SAUDI READYMIX

Saudi Readymix, a Saudi manufacturer and supplier of ready-mixed concrete and related products, has acquired a quarry in Al-Nu’airiyah. This addition to the company’s portfolio brings the number of quarries operated by the company to three, a significant number for the Kingdom. The move is aimed to further strengthen its position as a market leader and follows a record production year, which saw the company produce three million cubic meters of concrete in 2006. It already owns and operates two other quarries in the Abu Hadriyah and Al-Summan areas. With a production target of four million cubic meters for 2007, and in anticipation of the mega projects planned in the Kingdom’s Eastern Province such as Jubail 2 Expansion, SAGIA’s Ras Az-Zour and Saudi Aramco’s Manifa projects, acquiring a new quarry represents a crucial step in the company’s five-year expansion plan and the Kingdom’s construction boom, Saudi Redaymix President Rami Alturki said.

KRAFT FOODS

Kraft Foods Inc. has announced that Sanjay Khosla has been named president, Kraft International Commercial, effective immediately. Khosla joins Kraft from New Zealand-based Fonterra Cooperative Group, where he had been managing director of its consumer and food service business, Fonterra Brands, since 2004. He succeeds Hugh Roberts, who, as previously announced, is retiring after a 31-year career with Kraft. Irene Rosenfeld, Kraft CEO, said: “Sanjay will be a dynamic leader of our international business. During his career, he has gained extensive global experience and deep insights in consumer marketing. He has an impressive track record of growing businesses and will build on Hugh’s many successes to help us write the next chapter in Kraft’s growth.” Khosla said: “This is an exciting time for both the company and the industry, and I look forward to working with my new colleagues in taking full advantage of the many opportunities before us in our international business.”

SAMACO

Samaco, the exclusive dealer of Volkswagen (VW) in Saudi Arabia, opened its new VW showroom and maintenance center in Riyadh recently. Samaco also celebrated the launch of the new Jetta model.

The new VW showroom is located at the intersection of Prince Abdulaziz bin Mosaed street with Prince Mohammed bin Abdulaziz street. The maintenance center is located at Khorais road, exit 31. Bandar Al-Turki, Riyadh-based Samaco GM, Central Province, said: “The investment in the two new centers totals SR20 million. The showroom has an area of 775 square meters and the service center 2000 square meter. Work has begun on the second phase at Khorais road, which includes renovation of the present showroom (1,700 square meter) at Khorais road to be in conformity with the standard specifications of Volkswagen Co. “The new showroom brings the number of VW showrooms in Saudi Arabia to four — two in Riyadh and one each in Jeddah and the Eastern Province.”

BANKMUSCAT

BankMuscat SAOG recently signed an agreement with International Finance Corporation, Washington (IFC- W) under its Global Trade Finance (GTF) Program. The agreement will enable the bank’s customers to obtain confirmation and guarantees on letters of Credit received by them for their exports to various emerging market countries including Argentina, Armenia, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, Kenya, Lebanon, Malta, Mauritania, Nigeria, Mozambique, Russia, Pakistan and Uganda. This facility will support efforts to export to countries with riskier credit profiles, for which confirmation and guarantees are not available from traditional banking and export guarantee channels. AbdulRazak Ali Issa, chief executive, BankMuscat, said: “We are glad to join hands once again with the IFC of another part of our business. BankMuscat has always striven to explore ways to provide greater value to our customer base across our spread of banking facilities.”

AIB/AL SAFI

Al Safi Danone recently received a certificate of appreciation by the International Audit Services North America (AIB), as it fulfilled the requirements of the AIB consolidated standard for food safety. Karim Manssour Dahbi, GM, Al Safi Danone, said: “Yet again, Al Safi Danone has been richly rewarded for its continuous development, collective team spirit, leadership and sense of responsibility. We recently succeeded in covering all the GCC countries with our products since entering the Omani market.”

AICHE-SAS

The Saudi section of American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE-SAS) held its annual meeting in Alkhobar recently. Raza Jawad, director of the office in Dubai gave a presentation on refining and petrochemical integration. He said there was an increasing demand for refining products, with an annal growth of 1.5 million barrels per year. He added that the investment in refining worldwide was estimated to be 30-40 billion annually. The presentation emphasized that integration of refinery with petrochemicals will have many benefits including reduction of costs and optimization of production. Annual growth of petrochemical products is much higher than refinery products.